NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 75, 28 March 1936, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

0 Thought He had Gold. 11 In his short explanatory statement s to a Wanganui farmers' committee on i, Wednesday with reference to his re--1 cent trip to Chile in search of saw-fly insects to attack bidi-bidi, Dr. David Miller, chief entomologist at the Cawthron Institute, made one or two humorous references to the people of Chile, states the "Wanganui Chronicle." He explained that it was difficult enough to get into the country but a great deal harder to get out. The B Chilean Government, seeing his heav--1 ily-laden suitcases containing tins of soil as beds for the sawfly .grub, thought he was exporting gold. Rightly or wrongB ly, they wanted the cases opened up, 3 but he refused. "It made me miss my 3 steamer," the doctor added, "and I had , to have the cases lodged for safe keeping with the British Consul, or I would ? have been robbed. Some blighter > would have cut my throat for the sake t of a few blessed bugs and that would f have been a pity." (Laughter.) 5 Introducing the Kiwi. t The chicken raiser of Arizona who had visions of domesticating the New ' Zealand kiwi because of the abnormr ally large, egg which it lays can be 5 excused for his mistake when a news--5 paper of the prestige of the "New York r Times',' describes the kiwi as a cross between a dwarfed Australian ostrich 1 and a White Leghorn hen (states the ; "New Zealand Herald"). A corres- ; pondent at Rotorua has forwarded to . the Auckland Chamber of Commerce a " clipping from the "New York Times" in ' which this description is given. The ■ reader is further informed that "down i takes the place of feathers, its eggs . are slightly smaller than a hen's, and ■ a 2ft fence is too high1 for it to fly ■ over." This description is accompanied ■by an illustration which shows a . somewhat overgrown leghorn with unr usually small wings. l Library Subsidies. ! "In Christchurch with a population . of 120,000, the annual subsidy is only £700. The Timaru authorities give » their libraries a subsidy of £3000 and ■ they have a public of only 16,000 to ; cater for," said Mr. E. Langley at the . annual meeting of subscribers of the Sydenham Library (reports the "Christ- ' church Star-Sun"). "The City Council ; has always treated suburban libraries :in Christchurch very sadly. It is disgraceful." A resolution. that the City Council be asked for an annual subsidy of £5000 to cover all suburban ' libraries, Sydenham's portion to be.in the neighbourhood of £500, not £100, was carried unanimously. Another motion proposing that the Government 1 should also be asked to contribute to the upkeep of the libraries was also carried unanimously. The text of the motion will be sent to the Minister of Internal Affairs for consideration. Old Schools Praised. "The schools being built today are not as good as the old schoqls," said the Mayor of, Christchurch (Mr. J. W. Beanland) at the opening of three new open-air classrooms at St. Albans School. "The old school building was a building to be admired," he added. "The new schools are not an addition to the architectural beauties of the city. Today the health of the children *is being considered before everything else." Land Values and Climate. In the opinion of Mr. J. E. Benson, i of Ormond, near Gisborne, who has ' recently been on a six weeks' tour, » there is cheap land in the South Island i offering great opportunities for the ' young farmer. "If I were a young i man," he said, "I should certainly go south.. The land is cheap, and the 1 rates are low. Up here we pay for "1 the climate." Mr. Benson said that ' farmers in the far south seemed to ] have weathered the slump much < better than those in the north, where ( values jumped to abnormal levels, t Those in the south were more content i to farm their land during the boom 1 period than sell it, with the result that values did not rise to such an alarm- I ing extent as in the North Island. 1 Several instances of cheap land in the i Five Rivers district, were quoted. A c property of 4000 acres was on the i market at £10,000, including 2500 r sheep, farm buildings, and equipment, t Taking away the value of the sheep, \ the property itself would be worth \ about £2 an acre, Mr. Benson said, c In addition, a 7000-acre leasehold was offered at an annual rental of £60 at year, or about 2d an acre, all plough- £ able land in light tussock. Mr. Ben- c son also, quoted other examples. g